It looks like Swype, a new text input used in devices like HTC HD2 and T-Mobile myTouch 3G, has a new competition. Nuance Communications today announced Nuance T9 Trace, a continuous touch input technology designed specifically for touchscreen phones. Here is more info:

With Nuance T9 Trace, consumers simply glide their finger from one letter to another on their touchscreen QWERTY or touchscreen 12-key keypads, spelling words quickly with no stylus or other implement needed.

Nuance XT9?s word prediction and error correction capabilities deliver faster input with superior word-completion accuracy. Additionally, Nuance T9 Trace allows users to seamlessly switch back and forth between typing and tracing at any time, providing even more control and ease of use.

Because Nuance T9 Trace is designed to integrate directly with Nuance XT9, Nuance offers its handset manufacturer partners significant and unique efficiencies in device integration times, memory consumption, and global language support. These capabilities, coupled with the recently announced Nuance T9 Write handwriting technology, enable Nuance partners to leverage one robust yet simple predictive input technology suite, enabling them to bring multimodal input to more devices in more markets faster. And because the full Nuance T9 portfolio supports more than 80 languages worldwide, OEMs can offer amazing multimodal input experiences in both established and emerging markets.